New Year, New Achievements

We launched a suite of new annual achievements to motivate Strava athletes at the beginning of the year. Heroic performances happen all the time, and we wanted to recognize them with annual trophies for both overall and personal bests. While we still believe in the motivational potential of achievements, we’re taking steps to address the clutter of medals and trophies while also improving the leaderboard experience for all athletes.

We’ve been listening to the community, and here is what we’re doing to address the feedback.

“There are too many achievements.”

Many athletes told us they couldn’t easily find the achievements that mattered most because the new annual medals cluttered up their segment results. Beginning January 30, we’re removing annual personal records from segment results to make your most significant performances stand out.

“Make leaderboards more relevant.”

Look for easier access to more personalized leaderboards on the Strava mobile app this Spring. We’re updating the age, weight, and gender-specific mobile-leaderboards with new filters for clubs you follow and annual bests so you can see how you stack up against yourself and others like you.

“It’s hard to know what segment achievements matter because there are so many segments.”

Your personal achievements are most motivating when they’re earned on the segments that matter most to you and the community. To better recognize your achievements, we’ll work on reducing the total number of segments and highlighting the achievements earned on especially important segments. Expect to see these improvements over the course of the year.

Thank you for all your valuable feedback the past few weeks. Like you, we’re passionate Strava athletes, and we are committed to building a quality product that everyone will look forward to using — and now we’ve got a plan in place to ensure we do just that.

New Year, New Achievements

Original post: January 1, 2015

Yes, you heard it right. We’re starting 2015 with clean leaderboards to make way for a brand new set of annual achievements. That means new trophies for the best overall segment performances and your own personal bests this year. Don’t worry – your all-time PRs and segment leaderboards will live on. This just gives everyone a chance to start the year fresh.

Why the change?

We’ve heard from many Strava athletes that it’s not easy to top a PR set in peak fitness, during a race, or “when they were younger.” But we all still set annual goals and like seeing our progress over a season or a year. Annual Achievements are one way Strava recognizes these personal improvements and celebrates the awesome accomplishments of 2015.

What about all the KOM/QOM/CRs you already have?

Your hard-earned trophies will live on as all-time records and badges of honor. Think of it like honoring the world record holder in the marathon but also recognizing the leaders each year. We want to respect the best efforts ever recorded on Strava but also know that after several years and thousands of efforts, these can become unsurmountable.

By wiping the slate clean at the start of the year, annual achievements give everyone a chance to earn a spot on a segment leaderboard or set a personal best. Considering it’s January, you’ve got a pretty good chance of earning a cup or crown.

How It Works

In the segment results section, you will see solid icons for all-time achievements and outlined icons for annual ones (see below). All-time achievements will always supersede annual ones in segment results.

What are you waiting for? Go claim a 2015 trophy!

Whether you’ve set a new segment goal or have a few favorite routes in mind, now’s the best time to set your sights on a 2015 trophy. We’ve compiled some of the most frequently run and ridden Strava segments so you can earn a 2015 personal best or leaderboard title this season.